Mr. Brian Deese Acting Director The Office of Management and Budget 725 17th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20502 FILED ELECTRONICALLY RE: Second Notice, Patent Assertion Entities; P13120 Dear Mr. Deese: I encourage The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to provide approval to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) so that it can conduct its proposed study regarding Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). This study is important. Consumers and businesses need protection from PAEs that make questionable claims of patent infringement to extort high fees. Consumers and businesses are often targeted by PAEs because they purchase and use off-the-shelf commercial products that rely on common technology, such as printers, scanners, or wireless routers. PAEs are often successful at getting consumers and businesses to pay them because defending complex patent infringement lawsuits can be expensive. The FTC’s wide-ranging national study and investigation of PAEs is likely to yield information relevant to PAE’s practices, methods, and beliefs regarding the veracity (or lack thereof) of infringement claims, and the number and types of their target entities. Knowing more about how PAEs operate will help federal and state authorities better protect consumers and businesses. Attached is a letter to the FTC that I and 42 other attorneys general previously submitted voicing strong support for the FTC’s study. I commend the FTC for undertaking this study and strongly encourage OMB to provide whatever approval may be necessary so that the FTC’s work in this area can move forward in an expeditious manner. Sincerely, Dustin McDaniel Attorney General